CALABASAS : Christmas Show to Feature Real Snow

Calabasas residents will be treated Tuesday to a rare sight in Southern California: snow.

For the third consecutive year, city officials have arranged with a snow-making company to cover a hillside in Gates Canyon Park with white stuff to celebrate Christmas.

“People just love it, because there is nobody else around here who has snow,” said Heather Toma, a city recreation specialist.

A kickoff event, complete with Christmas carolers and Santa Claus, is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday. There will be refreshments and crafts for sale. Children ages 2 to 12 are encouraged to bring sleds and toboggans. Admission to the event will be $3.

The park will be open to non-residents as well, Toma said.

Bob Benedetto, chief executive officer of North Hollywood Ice, said it will take slightly more than an hour to cover a 200,000-square-foot area of Canyon Gates Park with three to four inches of snow, using snow-blowing machines that grind up large blocks of ice. The snow should last for two or three days, depending on the weather, he said.